Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) and the compound it synthesizes, norepinephrine, have been measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from psychiatric patients and normal volunteers. The mean DBH values for the different groups--unipolar depressives, bipolar depressives, schizophrenics/schizoaffectives, alcoholics, personality disorders, and normal volunteers--were not significantly different. There was a significant positive correlation between DBH and norepinephrine in unmedicated depressed patients and in depressed patients treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. DBH and norepinephrine were not significantly correlated in CSF from alcoholics or normal volunteers.